


Drop step

by BluBerserker



Category: citrus - サブロウタ | citrus - Saburouta
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst, Basketball, F/F, Hurt/Comfort, Whump, Yuzu whump
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-06-30
Updated: 2020-07-18
Packaged: 2021-03-04 22:08:22
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,324
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25003660
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BluBerserker/pseuds/BluBerserker
Summary: Yuzu plays basketball. Mei finds out that Yuzu knows more pain than she lets on.
Relationships: Aihara Mei/Aihara Yuzu
Comments: 4
Kudos: 77





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer: I don’t play basketball.

Yuzu glances at her opponent, Arata Mitsuru, a girl who is much taller than her, which gives her the clear advantage. She analyses the basketball court this time, scanning her surroundings. Given that she hasn't played in a while, it's safe to assume the expected outcome of this match.

But she couldn't back out now. If possible, she wanted to avoid escalating the situation any further. Mei was just starting to make progress in making the academy more acceptable to change, and giving its students more freedom after all.

As they stand in opposition of one another the basketball club president, Sunada Rin, explains the rules once more.

"The match consists of three rounds. First person to get 2 out of 3 baskets wins", she held the ball up, "Ready?".

"Yuzu! You don't have to. Just stop", Matsuri pleaded, clenching her fists and stomping her foot.

It had been a while since Yuzu witnessed this childish side of the pink haired girl. When they were younger Matsuri used to stomp her foot just like that when she didn't get what she wanted, which usually resulted in the younger girl crying in frustration.

Yuzu flashed her a grin accompanied with a goofy thumbs up. Had it been any other situation Matsuri would have probably cringed in disgust or at least smirked at the older girl's antics, but instead she just stormed out of the sports hall.

The blonde frowned, then nodded in apology and indicated to proceed with the match. Once again, the basketball club president held the ball up. 

As expected, the moment she threw the ball into the air, Yuzu’s much taller opponent managed to grab it first. In this situation Yuzu knew that she had to defend, though her rustiness in both her movements and her reflexes didn't help. Without much effort the opposing girl dribbled past her defense and managed to score.

Yuzu exhaled sharply. A dull ache had already started to set on her left knee. She closed her eyes, inhales.  _ 'Focus'. _

It was her turn now. Her opponent was clearly underestimating her, not even taking a defensive stance.  _ 'Well, if she's going to be like that...' _

In the blink of an eye, Yuzu blew past her, almost making it to the three-point line. Yuzu's sudden demonstration of agility triggers the other girl's reflexes immediately as she plants her feet and extends her arm to go for a steal. 

The blonde, quick to react, veers the ball to her lower side where the other girl can’t reach it. Although she knows her opponent has the advantage due to her height, Yuzu takes a chance and performs a drop step, this time successfully getting past her and scoring from the free-throw line.

Before she could even mentally celebrate, the match was interrupted by the arrival of a frantic Matsuri with a certain student council president in tow.

"What is going on here?", unlike Matsuri, Mei upholds her usual calm demeanour though Yuzu has learned to be able to see through it. 

"There was a small dispute between one of our club members and that first year", Rin indicated who she was referring to with a flick of her head. "Aihara Yuzu suggested a peaceful solution so we decided on a basketball match".

Mei, clearly displeased, crossed her arms, "And you couldn't find a fairer solution, Sunada-san?"

The basketball club president, unaffected by Mei’s irritation, shrugged, "Aihara Yuzu agreed to the terms".

Mei looked to Yuzu, her eyebrows still furrowed in both irritation at the basketball club president's indifferent attitude, and confusion as to why the blonde would agree to this.

"It's okay, Mei", Yuzu smiled to reassure her. "I'll explain the situation but only  _ after _ finishing the match, okay?"

Mei had just moved back in with Yuzu and their mother a week ago. As clumsy and awkward as their relationship has been thus far the two have decided to both trust each other and to communicate their thoughts and feelings earnestly. So of course Mei had no choice but to trust in her fiancée's words.

The student council president, though hesitant, nodded in agreement, "You may continue the match but I'll be staying here to monitor the situation, as well as to get a proper explanation afterwards".

As Yuzu and Mitsuru got into their positions again the blonde couldn't help but wince. After the adrenaline of shooting a basket earlier and then getting interrupted, Yuzu had forgotten about the dull ache in her knee, which had now evolved into sharp, throbbing pain.

The blonde closes her eyes and inhales once more.  **_'Focus'._ **

Since she scored last, this time her opponent starts off with the ball. 

_ 'Stealing the ball from her is going to be harder now that she won’t be letting her guard down' _ , Yuzu thought to herself.

As the other girl attempted to sprint past the blonde, Yuzu focused on blocking her, not giving her a single chance to shoot. Even as she tried to fake a shot or a turn Yuzu saw through her actions and remained persistent, pivoting and cutting her off before the other girl could even perform a clear shot.

Yuzu knew that the taller girl was getting frustrated. She probably hadn't expected her to be able to recognise her ploys, or at the very least not be able to defend so well.

_ ‘If she can’t get past me then she’ll resort to just trying to shoot from here’. _

And as expected the girl tried to score and, just as she'd planned, Yuzu with all the strength she could muster, shot up off the ground, and swiped the ball from her opponent mid air.

She lands on the ground and without a second to waste pivots and sprints towards the basket. Using her momentum from her dash, she jumps and wins the match.

...Or at least that's what everyone expected to happen. Instead, with a heavy  **thud** , Yuzu falls to the ground. She's curled up and trembling. The ball abandoned in favour of gripping her knee. She shut her eyes, preferring darkness over the colourful spots that were invading her vision which only amplified the pain.

Although this pain was familiar she'd forgotten just how much it hurt. In the corner of her mind she'd wished that the pain was worse, to the point where she could at least pass out from the pain, if only to give her a brief period of respite.

But instead she was forced to feel each agonising second of feeling like muscle, bone and cartilage were relentlessly twisting and entwining, the pain never diminishing or dulling. She was trapped.

  
  



	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mei is traumatised.

For as lighthearted and happy-go-lucky as Yuzu seemed, Mei knew that the blonde could do anything once she put her mind to it. Just recently she witnessed the results of Yuzu's hard work of studying late into the night as her grades have been steadily improving. However, when it came to any athletic activities Yuzu had been average at best. Once or twice Mei had to reprimand Yuzu for skipping out on PE and when the annual sports festival came around Yuzu was always suspiciously absent from any events.

So how was it that Yuzu was able to not only keep up with an experienced basketball player, but also outdo her?

Mei never thought that she'd be so captivated and apprehensive by watching a simple basketball match, yet there she was clenching her fists and almost biting down on her tongue to keep herself from cheering Yuzu on. As soon as Yuzu managed to swipe the ball from midair, Mei along with everyone else in the sports hall, knew that it would be Yuzu's win.

But Yuzu doesn't score.

Instead, Yuzu falters and  _ collapses _ . She's on the floor laying on her side, curled up into herself and clinging to her knee. Mei was already running, almost stumbling because of her perfect school attire.  She felt her throat constrict and her heartbeat increase in both speed and intensity.

Both the basketball club president and club member were already at Yuzu’s side, though they were unsure whether to move her yet. Although conscious she was unresponsive to their questions.

"Yuzu", Mei placed a gentle hand on her hair. "You have to tell us what's wrong", her composed facade crumbling as her voice wavered.

_ "Mei" _

and her heart _broke_ at hearing the feeble voice that she never imagined hearing from Yuzu. Mei hated this. She wished she could comfort Yuzu. She wished she could hold her close now, to make up for all the times she refused when Yuzu pleaded for some simple affection. She was barely holding in her tears of both anguish and frustration of not being able to do a single thing to alleviate Yuzu's pain.

_ "It's...i-it's..." _

"It's an old ACL injury in her left leg", Matsuri answered coolly behind them. "The pain will go away after a while... but she needs painkillers while it passes", the explanation intended for Mei more than the others. 

Sunada, the basketball club president, raised an eyebrow, "An ACL injury this bad?", she questioned. "And an old one at that?"

"It... didn't heal properly", Matsuri shrugged and then turned to Mei, "Come on, let's get her to the infirmary"

"I'll do it", Sunada offered. Matsuri eyed her but didn’t refuse the offer.

Mei was afraid to move Yuzu, and for good reason. As soon as they lifted her up Yuzu barely bit down a cry, instinctually leaning into Mei more.

_ "Shh, it's okay" _ , Mei whispered. They were the only comforting words she could give her, though with each hiss and groan Yuzu let out Mei felt her eyes tear up more.

* * *

After receiving some painkillers from the school nurse Yuzu succumbed to sleep and Mei, with great relief, watched as her pained expressions gradually eased. 

Sunada had left to go back to her club shortly after helping her bring Yuzu to the infirmary, and Matsuri had already gone home, telling Mei that she'll explain the events that led up to this incident next time. She didn't mind waiting since her current priority was making sure that Yuzu was okay now.

At around 6 in the evening Yuzu stirred awake. 

"Hey", Mei placed a hand on her arm.

The contact made Yuzu rouse from the drowsiness. "Hey", she replied, sitting up cautiously, the pain in her knee had subsided but the memory of the agony made her wary of making any sudden movements. "How long was I asleep?"

"Only about an hour and a half. Students are starting to go home from their clubs. I told the nurse to go home", after a beat of silence she asked, "Does your leg still hurt? Can you walk?".

"It's fine now, I can probably walk home", she stared at her knee as she answered.

"Alright", with that the younger girl stood up and gathered their things, "Let's go home then".

* * *

They walked at a slower pace. The pain really was gone but Yuzu still felt exhausted after everything. Mei remained at her pace, walking right beside Yuzu but keeping her eyes forward. She taciturnly carried Yuzu's bag for her but otherwise remained silent.

"Mei... I'm sorry"

"What for?", her voice remained neutral, "I'm not angry". She was telling the truth. Yuzu couldn't hear any apathy in her voice. "I'm not angry... but I  _ am _ upset"

Yuzu was stunned at her honesty but remained silent.

"Yuzu, when I saw you fall I-", she had to blink back the tears at the mere memory of Yuzu falling. "You were on the floor and at first I thought you fainted because you weren't moving but then...", Mei had to stop. Remembering Yuzu's broken voice was making her lose her composure. Yuzu waited patiently for her . After a moment she continued, "Yuzu... you were hurting so much and I couldn't do  _ anything _ to help you".

Yuzu didn't know what to do. It was her own fault for being reckless but she never thought about how her recklessness would affect Mei. Of course Mei was upset. The frustration and helplessness she must have felt... Yuzu wanted to, for lack of a better word, kick herself.

"I'm sorry Mei, I knew that I shouldn't have agreed to the match. In the back of my mind I knew this would happen but... I was thoughtless and impulsive".

Mei sniffed and quickly wiped her eyes. She wasn't particularly angry with Yuzu but the apology calmed her down nonetheless. "Matsuri mentioned an ACL injury", her voice was still hoarse but she started to walk again and Yuzu followed suit.

"Yeah...", Yuzu looked up at the sky. "It happened a couple years ago... stuff happened and it never ended up healing properly", she shrugged.

Mei observed the blonde, recognising Yuzu's expression as the same one when she invited her to visit her father. From the way Yuzu spoke at the time, Mei had no idea that she meant visiting her father's  _ grave _ . Mei wordlessly held Yuzu's hand as they continued on their walk home.

"Why didn't you tell me?"

Instead of the sky Yuzu shifted her gaze downward, "I'm sorry, I didn't mean for you to find out… well, like  _ that _ . I just didn't want to remember... it's an unpleasant memory".

Mei squeezed her hand, "It's okay. You can tell me when you're ready".

"But, what if I'm never ready?"

Mei started to fidget with Yuzu's hand, rubbing her thumb and drawing circles along her hand. "Well, if possible, I'd like to know. We'll be getting married soon... and I want to know when you're in pain, and why, and what I can do to help you...", she lifted Yuzu’s hand to her lips, kissing it gently. 

Yuzu felt her cheeks flush at the sudden intimacy. She felt comfort from hearing Mei’s earnest declaration and was touched by her sincerity. She took a deep breath, “Okay, I’ll tell you. But let’s head home first”.

Mei smiled, “Alright”.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I really struggled with this chapter because I didn’t want to make Mei too ooc. I mean, how would a person react to seeing someone they love experience pure physical agony out of nowhere? And then put a fictional character in that situation. Anyways, I’m not super satisfied with how it turned out but I figured y’all wanted the next chapter and I wanted to move on. Next chapter reveals Yuzu’s past.

**Author's Note:**

> I was gone for 2 years cuz I was focusing on school and then it turns out that my exams this year got cancelled ᕕ( ᐛ )ᕗ
> 
> But anyways hi. I’m back. Just in time for pride month. (It’s almost not but shh). Hope you’re all keeping safe. Please excuse the rough/shitty writing. As I said, it’s been a while (๑•﹏•)
> 
> Also, this fic will only be 2-3 chapters long.
> 
> OC Names:  
> Basketball club president: Sunada Rin (“Cold, Dignified”)  
> Yuzu’s opponent: Arata Mitsuru (“Full, Growing”)
> 
> Lastly, I didn’t know this but I realised (during my writing abstinence) that I like to hurt our bb Yuzu in my stories a lot. And then I found this thing called ‘whump’ and I was like “ohhh, I do that”. So yeah, most of my stories will probably be Yuzu whump (with Mei comfort ofc) and no one can stop me :)


End file.
